"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote
"Milena" wrote

maybe we should start growing our own tomatoes,lettuce, carrots, etc..

Pretty much how everyone did it years ago. Every few years when times get
tough, the home garden catches on again, even for city dwellers. Empty
lots

Yeah. I do it too. I do it more for fun than anything else but I've got a
container garden going now. Yes, have a house with a yard but also a *dog*
and I'm squeemish on eating veggies the dog peed on g. THat and we have
to flea treat the yard and I dont wanna eat the flea poisons.

So, containers high enough my dog cant reach and lots of stuff! Used to do
this in various apartments so I know some of the needed tricks and which
plants take best to it.

"Miche" wrote

Great idea. Not everybody has a back yard, though.

True!

I'm extremely fortunate in that I can borrow part of somebody else's.

If any want to try a few containers, some things do really well in them.

On Apr 19, 11:47*am, Goomba38 wrote:

My husband has been known to dust tomatoes with something white and
powdery over the years (I'm not sure what it is or why he's done it) but
we don't do it routinely.

BT, bacillus thuringensis (spelling probably wrong), a natural form of
insecticide, that meets some definitions of organic, maybe not some
others, I don't know. Used for a variety of pests including tomato
horn worms. In our experience, it's effectiveness is hit and miss.

*We're using huge rolling pots on our deck
these days and we toss the "used" potting soil into the composter after
the growing season and start fresh next year, but he's always been picky
about changing what's grown where the previous season when we gardened
directly in the soil. He rotated things around each year which is
apparently important so that the nutrients aren't depleted and certain
plant diseases are avoided

Yes, rotation is very good practice, though if you're changing potting
soil it wouldn't seem to apply. -aem

aem wrote:

We're using huge rolling pots on our deck
these days and we toss the "used" potting soil into the composter after
the growing season and start fresh next year, but he's always been picky
about changing what's grown where the previous season when we gardened
directly in the soil. He rotated things around each year which is
apparently important so that the nutrients aren't depleted and certain
plant diseases are avoided

Yes, rotation is very good practice, though if you're changing potting
soil it wouldn't seem to apply. -aem

I worded that badly. When we had an actual garden in the yard, he
rotated things. Our largest was 40'x40' but we were a lot younger then!
We're just doing pots in this house as the backyard is so shaded that
the areas of sun are just not where I want to plant. The deck pots work
pretty well. I'd love to explore growing things in a small greenhouse in
our mild winters, with lights if necessary.

On Apr 19, 9:02�am, "jmcquown" wrote:
Sheldon wrote:
Milena wrote:
maybe we should start growing our own tomatoes,lettuce, carrots,
etc.. in our backyards...and in the winter preserve it in jars or
freeze them...that is how my grandma does it...it comes out
cheaper...the prices are horrible..
milena

Frozen veggies are a bargain, and a whole lot less costly and labor
intensive than growing ones own, and home canning can easily double
the cost, especially since it's risky business (your far better off
buying canned tomatoes). �Btw, there is no such thing as organic, not
even home grown... �what organic IS is a scam.

I know of only one way to lower the food bill consistantly, learn how
to cook, learn how to REALLY cook.

Have you started your planting yet? �I love seeing photos of your garden
every year!

It's still too early here and, nights are cold and the ground is too
wet. I got fooled enough times with a warm spell that a few days
later turned frosty that I know to wait... I'll not start planting
most salad veggies until the last week in May but I will probably
plant various cabbages, lettuces, and a few other's in mid May. The
few bulbs I planted last year did so well that I plan on putting in a
good amount of Florence fennel this year. My strawberries are already
up and I expect a bumper blueberry crop this year. And right now I
have a Colorado Blue spruce "Fat Albert" on order at my local nursery
(they will be digging them in two weeks), it's going in my front yard
to be used as a specimen planting that will also serve as an outdoor
Christmas tree.

http://www.millernursery.com/helpful...sFatAlbert.htm

"Ophelia" wrote:
Sheldon wrote:
Milena wrote:
maybe we should start growing our own tomatoes,lettuce, carrots,
etc.. in our backyards...and in the winter preserve it in jars or
freeze them...that is how my grandma does it...it comes out
cheaper...the prices are horrible..
milena

Frozen veggies are a bargain, and a whole lot less costly and labor
intensive than growing ones own, and home canning can easily double
the cost, especially since it's risky business (your far better off

You're = you are!

If an obvious typo is all you get from my posts it's no wonder your a
dunce.

On Apr 19, 2:47�pm, Goomba38 wrote:
aem wrote:
The government definitions of what constitutes "organic" are not
exactly straightforward and are of no interest to me. �I use Miracle
Gro on my tomatoes so that probably disqualifies them. �I don't use
pesticides, so that's okay.

We garden for the pleasure of gardening, which includes choosing to
grow only the things we think are clearly better than store-bought,
like tomatoes, and that we especially like to eat, like snowpeas and
Kentucky Wonder beans, and that we like the convenience of having at
hand, like herbs and carrots and lettuces. �We have space for some
more things right now and probably will put in a few Japanese
eggplants because they are both very tasty and very pretty.

Subsistence gardening would be way beyond our pleasure, too far into
the realm of work. � �-aem

My husband has been known to dust tomatoes with something white and
powdery over the years (I'm not sure what it is or why he's done it) but
we don't do it routinely. �

Probably Sevin, excellent to control many insects especially Japanese
beetles... has a very short life so is very safe if not used within
two weeks of harvest.

The Cook wrote:

On Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:07:40 -0400, Goomba38
wrote:

sf wrote:

I'm growing tomatoes, parsley, cilantro and basil as we speak! My
tomatoes have a couple flowers on them already. I suppose they're
organic still... ? They may stay that way, I dunno?

Have you used pesticides in the past three years?
http://www.misa.umn.edu/Organic_Certification.html


No, but I reserve the right to dust 'em with something noxious if the
need arises. LOL

When it gets to the bugs or me I start looking for something that
really kills. Anyone have a hazmat suit for sale?

No, I'm keeping mine. It's fun suiting up and scaring the neighbors.

Pete C. wrote:
The Cook wrote:

On Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:07:40 -0400, Goomba38
wrote:


sf wrote:


I'm growing tomatoes, parsley, cilantro and basil as we speak! My
tomatoes have a couple flowers on them already. I suppose they're
organic still... ? They may stay that way, I dunno?

Have you used pesticides in the past three years?
http://www.misa.umn.edu/Organic_Certification.html



No, but I reserve the right to dust 'em with something noxious if the
need arises. LOL

When it gets to the bugs or me I start looking for something that
really kills. Anyone have a hazmat suit for sale?


No, I'm keeping mine. It's fun suiting up and scaring the neighbors.

Hah. Amateur.

My former next door neighbor could accomplish the same thing by
stripping down to a Speedo to mow the lawn.